Call That Love
by smidget
Summary: Ginny discovers the various depths of love as a sorrow, a joy, and a strength.


Disclaimer--I own nothing.

**Call That Love**

Ten years ago Ginny Weasley was sixteen years old and thought she knew everything about love. She thought she loved Harry Potter because he was all she thought about lying awake at night. He was on her mind night and day, whether she was sitting in classes or serving detention. He was on her mind as she rushed into a battle, as she faced death at the hand of a dark wizard or a dark twist of fate. When Ginny thought of Harry the pit of her stomach ached for him to be there. Through the last long year of the war, Ginny missed Harry so much that it hurt and she called this love.

Ginny Weasley was sixteen when she thought she lost the love of her life. She stood on the steps of Hogwarts Castle and watched death bring the body of Harry Potter to lay before them like a cruel puppet. She felt her world crumble and heard a deep roaring in her ears that brought her to her knees. That moment that lasted an eternity almost killed her too, and Ginny called this love.

Ginny Weasley was sixteen when she thought she witnessed the impossible and love brought her back to life. As Harry's living, breathing form appeared in the Great Hall Ginny felt her heart start beating again and her cheeks flush with a relief that spread to her toes. She watched along with everyone else as Harry saved the world, defeated Voldemort, saved her crumbling world. She watched as the crowd in the Great Hall swarmed to their saviour, as they showered praise and thanks onto him, as they reached out to touch him. And Ginny stood back although her heart pounded blood through her veins. They had all the time in the world now to be together and she called this love.

Five years ago, Ginny Weasley became Ginny Potter and thought she knew everything about love. She stood hand in hand with Harry and married him and could think of no better way to tell him how much she loved him. She promised to never leave him, to always love him, and to have him forever as her loving husband. She felt as though her other half had been returned to her and she called this love.

Ginny Potter and Harry Potter shared their first dance as a married couple, their first meal as a married couple, and their first night together as a married couple. They embarked on their rest of their lives that day ever together. Ginny knew that day that she could never be parted from Harry and be happy and she called this love.

Four years ago, Ginny Potter gave birth to their first child. She was all at once terrified and excited, exhausted and yet she had never been farther from sleep. With Harry by her side Ginny felt invincible. When she held her son for the first time, she cried for the first time in six years, cried tears of joy, and Ginny called that moment, that one moment in time, love.

They named him James as Ginny's insistence and Harry told her that he had never loved her more. Ginny knew that she had never felt more love in her entire life. She has a family of her own, in her arms and by her side, and Ginny called this love.

Two years ago, Ginny gave birth to her and Harry's second son, five weeks prematurely and more terrified than she had ever been in her entire life. She spent hours that passed in seconds in fear as she watched Healers whisper worriedly to each other, as they glanced at her out of the corner of their eyes and looked somber. Albus Severus was born just after midnight and they took her son away. Neither Ginny nor Harry slept at all that night, nor for the next three nights that followed. They held each other and Ginny felt as though Harry was the only thing keeping her alive, and she called this love.

Ginny cried twice in those four days, once when they told her her son was going to be fine and once when they finally let her hold him. Ginny took Albus into her arms and felt fear, anger, despair, and hope all at once, bursting inside of her, and she called this love.

Ginny Potter was twenty six years old when she gave birth to her third child, a beautiful baby girl. It was the end of May, in the middle of the afternoon, and there were no complications. They named her Lily, this time at Harry's insistence, and she was the most beautiful thing Ginny had ever seen. The youngest and the only girl, a small patch of red hair atop her perfect head, Ginny instantly saw something of herself in her little baby girl. This was the completion of her family, the final piece to a puzzle that would grow with time but for now was whole. Ginny felt content, she felt accomplished, she felt whole, and she called this love.

They brought Lily home with little family fanfare as James and Albus were first curious about their new sister and then bored with her. Harry seemed a little putout by this but Ginny laughed. Truth be told, little siblings that could neither walk nor talk were of little interest to a four year old boy. Lily woke throughout the night at varying intervals but Ginny didn't wake Harry even once. Just before dawn Lily and Ginny were up again, Ginny sitting in a large rocker by the window while Harry snored lightly a few feet away. She held Lily close to her and rocked her back and forth silently. Soon enough, Lily was asleep again but Ginny remained awake, holding her daughter. The sun crept through window slowly, its light a pale orange. Ginny had never felt more peaceful and she called this love.

Ten years ago, Ginny had been sixteen and had known nothing about love.

Ten years later, in a moment of perfect serenity, Ginny felt that each breath she took, each beat of her heart, came from the little girl in her arms, from her sons, from Harry. She felt as if the rising sun rose to shine on them, that the earth turned for them. She saw her life in them, for them, with them, and she called this love.

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**AN--Thanks for reading. Something that came out of nowhere really, but I think it turned out well.**

**I'd really appreciate hearing what you thought.**


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